Black Bull ‘back from the dead’?

Mystery surrounds the future of the former Black Bull pub as tenants Tesco have not confirmed whether it was planning to move out of the site.

The supermarket giant announced this week that it planned to close 43 of its sites across the country, with more than half said to be local convenience stores.

And last week pub chain JD Wetherspoon expressed interest in opening in Mirfield.

Such was local opposition to Tesco’s opening two years ago, rumours circulated on social media that one of those stores facing closures could be the former pub in Huddersfield Road, but a Tesco spokesman said the company would not release details of individual store closures until staff at the affected sites had been informed.

A possible departure from its lease by Tesco could leave the door open to pub giant Wetherspoons, who last week said it was looking at potential sites for a new pub in Mirfield.

Such a move would be welcomed by Mirfield councillor Kath Taylor, who said:

“The only time I ever went into that Tesco, I only saw two other people in there, and I am surprised that it is still open.

“I think it would be better if it was a pub – we already have the Railway and the Navigation Tavern, but they are not right in the centre of Mirfield like the Black Bull is.

“There are always good and bad points with these things. If the pub did come ‘back from the dead’, I think it would be welcome in Mirfield – it might even bring a bit more business into the town.”

Town councillor David Pinder said he did not believe either of the council-owned buildings in the town centre which are currently for sale would be used for the Wetherspoons pub.

He said: “The library would take an awful lot of modification to turn into a pub, and I don’t think they would want to do that, and the downstairs of the town council offices would not be big enough to fit in a proper bar.”